What to do with my cat (frustrated)?

[kingfisher]

We've had a cat for about a year now and we love him dearly. We found out about a month ago he was peeing on the carpet in the room we call the office. My wife attributed it to the fact that we ignored cleaning out his litterbox for too long and he didn't want to go pee in there because it smelled too bad.

so we pulled up the carpet, painted over the floor with this paint that gets rid of the smell, moved his litterbox to the bathroom, and kept a close eye on his litterbox. She also got him another litterbox for upstairs.

For awhile, we noticed he was peeing in his box again. However, lately it seems there hasn't been much pee in there.

today my wife calls me at work to tell me she's discovered that he's now peeing in the dining room. She suspects he's done it about 10 times.

Now what? I can't afford to re-carpet my entire house. I don't know why he's doing it, but I suspect he'll continue to do it no matter what we do. I don't want him to pee on the brand new carpet I'll be putting into the office. I know nobody wants a cat that pees on the carpet.

In all other respects he is a great cat and my kids, my wife, and I all love him. So you can understand my frustration. What should I do?

[SpyvSpy]

I have been in the same boat as you. My suggestions

1. Scoop the litterbox EVERY day.
2. Get him/her checked to make sure he/she doesn't have a urinary infection.
3. Outdoor cat? (last resort)
4. They sell a spray that cats don't like maybe buy that and spray around the rooms he/she is peeing in.

[BladeRunner001]

We've had a cat for about a year now and we love him dearly. We found out about a month ago he was peeing on the carpet in the room we call the office. My wife attributed it to the fact that we ignored cleaning out his litterbox for too long and he didn't want to go pee in there because it smelled too bad.

so we pulled up the carpet, painted over the floor with this paint that gets rid of the smell, moved his litterbox to the bathroom, and kept a close eye on his litterbox. She also got him another litterbox for upstairs.

For awhile, we noticed he was peeing in his box again. However, lately it seems there hasn't been much pee in there.

today my wife calls me at work to tell me she's discovered that he's now peeing in the dining room. She suspects he's done it about 10 times.

Now what? I can't afford to re-carpet my entire house. I don't know why he's doing it, but I suspect he'll continue to do it no matter what we do. I don't want him to pee on the brand new carpet I'll be putting into the office. I know nobody wants a cat that pees on the carpet.

In all other respects he is a great cat and my kids, my wife, and I all love him. So you can understand my frustration. What should I do?

Your cat's playing with you man...Do you have a DE or str8? Put it to good use...take him to the bathroom and shave a part of his hair when he pees where you don't like .

Cheers,
Robert

[Mysterion]

Your cat's issue may be behavioral, or it may be physical. First, you should take him to the vet to help rule out physical issues, such as urinary tract infection, or bladder stones. These can be quite serious, even life-threatening in male cats. Once these are ruled out, you can examine the cat's environment: Have you changed your brand of cat litter, for example? Cats despise scented litter, and frequently will avoid it. A change in food can also prompt issues, as it can change the ph-balance of the cat's urine. Even a change in the type of litter box can be troublesome--some cats refuse to use a covered box.

It can be extremely frustrating dealing with inappropriate elimination issues in cats. As my late vet noted regarding one of our brood's difficulties, "You're never going to get inside her little head." If your cat's issues are behavioral, you might try a product called Cat Attract Litter. It has herbal ingredients that draw cats toward the litter box. I've used it, and it works; it is also available as a powder that you can add to your preferred brand of litter.

Some cats are just prone to UTIs, and all you can do is try to keep an eye on them, and follow up with appropriate care. We have one such beast, but we stay alert to her welfare, get meds from the vet when appropriate, and she rarely causes any trouble.

Above all, I would urge you to get your cat to a vet ASAP. As noted, urinary issues in male cats can involve obstructions, and can become extremely serious, very quickly.

[elalan]

I had a cat that gave up on her litter box because a woman moved into the house. I loved her dearly (the cat) and went to no end to try to get her back on the litter box. She never did and she never lived in the house again. She couldn't be outside and I couldn't put her down so she lived in porch limbo the rest of her years. It can be an intractable problem based on my experience and research. Not to be too pessimistic, but it can be difficult to deal with and nothing is worse than cat pee in the house.

[TonyH]

Perhaps you can extract it from the carpet and sell it under contract as a Pinaud product.

Seriously though, you definitely need to get the cat to a vet for a checkup. Better safe than sorry.

[DizzyArnaz]

Seriously though, you definitely need to get the cat to a vet for a checkup. Better safe than sorry.

Came to post this. A good cat that normally pees in the box that is peeing elsewhere is a sign of a physical problem. DEFINITELY get him checked out. My sister had this problem with one of her cats a couple of years ago, and it turned out he had a urinary blockage that had to be removed. If you let it go for too long, their kidneys can get backed up with toxins and they can die.

An enzymatic cleanser like Nature's Miracle is the best for getting the cat-pee smell out of the carpet. Normal carpet cleansers don't get the entire smell out of the carpet, and if it even smells a little bit like pee, your cat will think that's a good place to go.

[tg16]

Been there. Get a good food formulated for UTI's and feed one can of wet food / day. According to our vet, the cats can't live on a dry food diet all the time. All the other posts about seeing a vet are good advice.